We received an invitation for our Youth Section to visit Holland and participate in a Tournament to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Enschede Football Club. We gladly accepted the offer and the following players travelled to Holland on Friday 26th May: Michael Beesley, David Bickles, Ron Boyce, Michael Brooks, Jack Burkett, Frank Caskey, John Charles, Dave Cunningham, Brian Dear, Roger Hugo, Geoff Hurst, Reg le Surf, Paddy O'Mahoney, Martin Peters, Derek Woodley. They were accompanied by three officials: Wally St. Pier (Youth Section Manager), Eddie Chapman (Secretary) and Albert Walker (Trainer).

Upon arrival the officials were accommodated in a hotel and the players joined those from the other competing clubs in a hostel which were the headquarters for the Tournament.

On the following day the whole group had a coach tour to places of interest, being particularly impressed by the Arnhem area and its war memorials. The Hammers' officials also made the acquaintance of ex-Newcastle United player Tommy Robinson who proved a valuable companion during the remainder of the time in Holland.

The Tournament opened on the Saturday. It consisted of two groups, the teams in each group meeting each other with the two leaders playing-off in a final. These were:

Our first match was against Heracles, Boyce scoring both our goals in a 2-1 victory. The day's matches were followed by a dinner for the officials during the evening.

On Sunday each team played two games. In the morning we met Blau Wit, winning 4-1 through goals by Beesley, Boyce, Hugo and Peters ; the afternoon brought a further victory by 2-1 against Willem II, Dear netting twice for us.

We thus qualified for the Final, meeting Aarhus of Denmark. Geoff Hurst scored the only two goals of the match for the Hammers to conclude with a 100% record in their four games with a goal-average of 10-3. The winners' trophy was representative of a football surrounded by a laurel wreath, made in white metal and mounted on a black plinth; this was presented during the evening, with speeches made by representatives of the competing clubs.

The party returned to London by air on Monday 30th May.

From the Hammers' viewpoint the tour was most successful, apart from the winning of the tournament. Our young players gained valuable experience against Continental opposition, and we were especially pleased to be able to try out newcomer John Charles (former West Ham Boys' wing-half) and to discover a new potential centre-forward in Dave Cunningham who played in that position in the Final. Likewise we made many new friends, especially among the other clubs' officials and the local populace, this was especially marked during visits to places of interest, among which was the Grolsch Brewery where the well-known Dutch lager is manufactured.

We sent a strong representative side to meet Peterborough United in a floodlit friendly at London Road. We were beaten 2-1 by the League membership aspirants before an attendance of over 11,000. John Bond put us ahead four mintutes after the start, but the "Posh" came back with two goals by Jimmy Dunne midway through the second half. The Hammers rallied again, but goalkeeper Harry Wells kept us out with a fine display.

The World Cup series of 1958 ended with Brazil as champions, and their club teams were a big attraction in global tours. On this particular evening we had an attendance of 24,158 at Upton Park to see the Fluminense club from Rio de Janeiro. They had already played in Holland, and subsequently visited Brighton, Middlesbrough and Sweden. The Hammers coming out on top with a 5-4 victory. Of the nine goals scored it is difficult to pick out the best. The two headers by Malcolm Musgrove from long passes by John Bond (33 mins) and Mike Grice (38 mins) were the results of spectacular leaps, but they were nearly equalled by a similar Noel Cantwell header when he forced past four defenders to net the winner from Grice's corner (72 mins). There were four tremendous shots which found their way into the net from the edge of the penalty-area; right-half Edmilson hit two of these for Fluminense, the first after 11 mins. and the second in the 64th minute from a free-kick to put his side ahead each time: Dave Dunmore got our first equaliser (30 mins.) and then Bond levelled it at 4-4 (67 mins.) from Cantwell's side-footed pass for an indirect free-kick. That accounted for seven tallies, and if Fluminense's other two (Jair in the 52nd minute and Escurinho a minute later) did not reach the same standard they nevertheless played a vital part in putting the Brazilians back into the game after we had seemingly got the upper hand.

Persistent rain throughout the earlier part of the day until after the time of kick-off kept the attendance down to 10,300 for Monday s floodlight friendly against UDA Dukla of Czechoslovakia. The Czechs included half-a-dozen internationals with 130 "caps" between them and it was soon obvious that the visitors were going to provide their full share towards an interesting game. Despite the inclement conditions that prevailed the standard of soccer was high, and it was interesting to compare the similarities of style between the two teams. The visitors played a "deep centre-forward" type of game, but as they constantly changed positions it was sometimes difficult to decide just who was playing where! They also added complications by altering the numbers of their players from that notified for programme purposes, and then bringing on a substitute for an injured player before the interval.

However it was a most entertaining evening, and UDA deserved their second-half equaliser after being 0-1 down at the interval through the conversion of a penalty by Noel Cantwell.

To quote one report: " With both teams striving to improve on recent form, no player could afford to take things easy. So the 11,538 crowd who braved the windy weather were rewarded with a display of football well up to First Division standard."

We were worth our 1-0 victory, gained through a 30-yard shot by John Bond after 20 minutes' play. Arsenal put up a strong fight to equalise and once hit a post, but in general we had the better of the exchanges. Mick Beesley made his First XI debut, and did well enough at times to prove himself a useful prospect.

Nearly 5,000 attended on a chilly - evening to see our First Team play the Great Britain Olympic XI in an Olympic Trial Match at the Boleyn Ground. In a very sporting game both sides produced good football, and although beaten 5-2 the amateurs showed much improved form as compared with their previous trial game v Arsenal at Highbury.

Three of our five goals were netted by John Bond, who thus got his second hat-trick in three days; the first was a header from a left-foot centre by John Lyall, the second followed an Andy Malcolm - John Dick passing movement and the third was driven home after the ball was brought under control from goalkeeper Peter Shearing's long downfield kick (from one goalmouth to the other within the space of seconds!). Bond also laid on the pass for Tony Scott to cut in and score whilst our final counter was registered by Malcolm Musgrove after he and the ball had " bobbled through " the opposing defence. For the Olympic XI Bob Brown was an ever-threatening centre-forward, and he well-earned his two goals, the first with a fine 15-yard opportunist drive and the second after a " solo."

We had Hendon amateur goalkeeper Peter Shearing in our side, and he made one especially excellent save from Brown in a pleasing performance.

The players returned from their end of season Continental tour to Europe on 11th May, the players then joined their other colleagues on holiday until Monday 13 July when much the same party reported back for training in preparation for another trip to Europe. Thanks to the generosity of the Bata Shoe Company we used the Bata Sports Ground at East Tilbury during this period, and our tour party was joined by the rest of our playing-staff a fortnight later.

The second visit to the Continent began on Wednesday 29th July and our party came back to London on the following Monday. We took part in a tournament in Vienna organised by F.C Austria, meeting Bratislava Red Star (Czechoslovakia) and Moscow Sparta (U.S.S.R.). F.C. Austria also met these two clubs (the matches were played in pairs, following each other on the Thursday and Sunday evenings).